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27 May 2005

custard class notes & photos

Although I should be going to sleep right now I wanted to write a snippet about my custard class last night, but moreover post the incredible photos generously taken by my friend Dana and the host with the most, Sam.

My longest class to date at 2 1/2 hours, I was a little worried about time because I had a lot to do and I get carried away talking about eggs and custards. I love them fiercely.

The pot de creme elegant, the brulee simple & classic but very difficult to perfect, pastry cream basic but also surprisingly adaptive to innovation, the stove-top pudding Americana and comforting, citrus curds that capture the high notes of sun with translucent beauty, creme caramel and flan the molded milks and burnt sugar topped wonders of pure simplicity, the sabayon a feat of whole egg, air and sweet wine whisked until the author is wet with exhaustion, creme anglaise the Zelig of the family demure disappearing chameleon then ice cream, and the pannacotta a modern work with a raw canvas to taste the pure sweetness of cream.

Who will say that custard is not wondrous, mythical, beguiling? Silk velvet on the tongue, single kiss on the neck, a tiny bite to astonish.

Custards require patience and skill. It's rare that I eat one in a restaurant where I trust the {pastry} chef understands and loves eggs enough to treat them as gently as they need to be. The truffle custard canape at The French Laundry remains one of the most exquisite in texture and presentation I have ever had. Baked in a hollowed out egg shell cut perfectly at the egg's small end {with an egg cutter!}, it is unmatched perfection.

The egg, in painting, architecture and cookery is considered a perfect shape. It is the shape the quenelle is modeled after.

The space for the class was perfect. One gray building with a red door, tall ceilings and the challenge of an electric stove and oven. This is what I like about the traveling kitchen private classes--- the space I'm teaching in could be yours. I was there for the first time as was everyone else. It's spontaneous, improv theater learning.

And the inspiration to make at home what I demonstrated last night? Taking home the recipes and eating the results:

Comments

Shuna, this class was great! I would have posted earlier, but I was too haunted by the taste of your young ginger pot de creme to achieve coherence. Like all good teachers, you left me feeling that there was much more to learn than I had ever imagined.
After reading the blog for a couple of months, it was fun to meet you. Your earnest passion is even more powerful in person than in your writing. Now I'm thinking about the eggs in my life in a whole new way, and I have a new mission--reproduce that pot de creme--so subtle, so rich...

Lucky for me Shuna left some custards in my fridge and I have the ginger pot au creme haunting me at every opportunity.
Really dug the baked custards but wasn't so keen on the chocolate. I prefer my custard to be delicate and yellow, I thought the chocolate overpowered it. It would be interesting to taste the same custard made two different ways, ie a plain baked custard and plain stove top custard, just to be clear of how the different methoods affect the results. Maybe that is something I will do at home by myself some time.If I do, Of course I will report back.

Carol--- yes what I love about the young ginger is that it carries all the exotic alluring floral notes of ginger without overpowering itself with heat.

Sam--- since the chocolate custard is basically a pastry cream, one need only infuse/steep the milk for as long as possible with the desired flavour, (herbs, fruit, nuts etc.), pass that through a strainer and then make the liason & custard to achieve desired results. Do let us all know indeed!

shuna - would that be the kind of custard then to use in eclairs, mille feiulle, fruit tarts and the like?
(In English the mille feuille are inelegantly known as custard slices)
No chocolate doesn't get me out of the whisking stage though does it???

Although that chocolate pudding is probably the best I've ever had, I agree that the chocolate was overpowering. If it were chilled and served with something (like whipped cream and berries) it would be killer. But, anything would pale next to that ginger pot de creme, especially in memory. I could still taste it the next day!

Carol, yes the choc. custard's presence changes dramatically chilled. It is thicker and smoother, and perhaps even delivers more of a punch. Although when it is hot is tastes sweeter, (just like hot soup tastes saltier.)

Sam, Creme patisserie aka pastry cream is indeed what fills the layers of Napoleons, is on the inside of an eclair, and often lines fresh fruit tarts. Much whisking is needed whether flour or cornstarch is used as the thickener. It's all about the smooth mouthfeel!

ok - i am going to have to get down the gym and get my whisking arm in to training.
i think cold - yes - the chocolate would have been good. I didn't know that heat bought out the sweet/salt flavours more, but that makes sense. It did seem sweet.
just finished my last ginger creme for brekkie
i am going to bake the other batch next week and share with some work colleagues. I will let you know how it goes.

Shuna....WOW...if you ever pass through Paris...I could gather a group of eager ladies who would love to spend the afternoon learning from you! How about two days worth of your time, I sorely need your knife skills class!
Melissa

I am very grateful my wife signed me up for this class! Having never attended a cooking class, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed this one. It inspired me to attempt my own ginger pot de creme the following weekend. I was happy with the results and no one complained as they gobbled up my custards. I would definitely recommend your classes and look forward to attending future events.

As corny as I am about to sound, this is the best thing a student can say, at least in my cookbook! Attempting a pot de creme before the basics is a real feat, Letterman-style! Now it's on to cinnamon stick, tea, and fresh herb infusions for you! Get some practice in there this summer, the flavour possibilities are endless...

'tis sad you are so far away, the ginger pot de creme sounds ethereal. May I ask, is it simply a ginger infusion in the cream? I make a creme brulee that's infused with fresh bay and ginger but for some reason haven't skipped the bay and done pure ginger. I will have to try it now.

As usual, I am hopelessly out-of-date in commenting on this post, but...custardy stuff is my absolute favorite. I'm a fairly obsessed (have to really work to rein myself in, otherwise dessert-making starts to look like an addiction)amateur dessert chef, and the crema, huevos and sucre tend to take the day. My favorite so far was a saffron pot de creme (haven't yet mastered diacritics on the PC, damn IBM and their circuitous commands, where's my Mac...)which my mother-in-love contented should have been savory, but I demurred...Tell me when your next class is...I'm there.